This list of comics publishing companies lists companies, specifically publishing companies who primarily publish comics. Comic art is an art medium used to present ideas or stories via images. The images are usually arranged in panels in a sequence that conveys the story. Sounds are expressed using speech balloons and onomatopoeia. European comics have existed since 1837, when Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer published Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois. The oldest comic publishing company on this list is the now-defunct book publishing company, David McKay Publications that was founded in 1882 and published comics from 1935 to 1950. Most comic publishing companies were established in the United States, where comics became popular in the mid-1900s.
A former imprint of Image Comics. Became fully independent as of 2009. Titles: Anti, The Boondock Saints: In Nomine Patris, ICE: Bayou Blackout, ICE: Critical Mass, Loose Ends, Luke McBain, Magus, Narco, R.P.M., The Ride: Southern Gothic, Sherwood, Texas[3][4]
[14] Titles: Angels Everywhere!, Bootsie's War Years, Crossfire, DNAgents, The Factor, The Little Friar, Our Little Nuns, Stewart the Rat, Vale of Dears, Welcome to Heaven, Dr. Franklin[15]
An imprint of Abrams Books[16] Titles: The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis, The Bomb: The Weapon That Changed the World, Climate Changed: A Personal Journey through the Science, Economix, Fire on the Water, Guantanamo Voices, My Friend Dahmer, The Night Eaters, Sing No Evil, Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel[17]
Former Paragon Publications until 1982; former Americomics until 1984[19] Titles: Amazon Warriors, Barbarians and Beauties, Crimebuster (1995), Dragonfly, Femforce, Heroine Heaven, Jungle Girls, Miss Masque, Reddevil, The Sword of Zorro (2002)[20]
[27] Titles: American Barbarian, Comrade Kill, Driven by Lemons, Johnny Hiro, The Oven, Salamander Dream, The Secret Voice, Street Angel, Tiger!Tiger!Tiger!, Ur[28]
Acquired by Malibu Comics in 1989,[31] which was bought by Marvel in 1994.[32] Titles: The Adventurers, Adventurers Book II, Death Hawk, Elf Warrior, NetherWorlds, Ninja Elite, Star Rangers, Warriors[33][34]
[47] Published comics as Alias Comics; imprint: Cross Culture. Alias Comics was sold to Abacus Comics[48] and Cross Culture was bought by LAMP PoST Publications in 2007. Titles: The Dreamland Chronicles (2005), Elsinore, Hyper-Actives, Imperial Dragons, Judo Girl (2006), Lions, Tigers and Bears (2005), Lullaby, Six-Gun Samurai, Valkyries, Yenny[49]
Imprint of Avatar Press, created solely for publication of Lady Death, bought from CrossGen Entertainment (who themselves bought the rights to Lady Death from defunct Chaos! Comics). Notable for comics in which the contents have no censorship in terms of violence, nudity, sex, and swearing. Titles: Belladonna (2015), Ember, Hellina, Jungle Fantasy, Lady Death, Lookers, Threshold: Allure, UnHoly, War Goddess, Webwitch (2015) [105][106]
[citation needed] Titles: Back to Mysterious Island, Black Scorpion, Flying Saucers Vs. the Earth, Insane Jane: The Avenging Star, Isis, Sinbad: Rogue of Mars, Space Women Beyond the Stratosphere, Tenth Muse (June 2007 series; 2013 series), Violet Rose, Wrath of the Titans[107]
[citation needed] Went bankrupt, all titles acquired by First Comics. Titles: Badger (September 1983 – April 1984), Nexus (1981 – October 1982, May 1983 – March 1984), Whisper (December 1983 – March 1984)[108]
Comic publishing imprint of Carlsen Verlag, established in 1953,[111] started publishing comics in 1967; imprints: Edition ComicArt, B&L (bought 2002, since 2006 part of Carlsen Cartoon und Humor), Chicken House Deutschland (joint-venture with The Chicken House[112]
First publishing in 1993.[116] All characters except Lady Death were first bought by comic retailer Tales of Wonder, then sold to Devil's Due Publishing, and after the demise of Devil's Due Publishing finally went to Dynamite Entertainment. Rights to Lady Death were first sold to CrossGen Entertainment, and went, after Crossgen's demise, to Chaos! Comics founder Brian Pulido and Avatar Press under its own imprint Boundless Comics[117]
Active imprints: Dark Horse Manga, M Press ("diverse literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice").,[136]Sequential Pulp Comics. Discontinued imprints: Comics' Greatest World later renamed Dark Horse Heroes (DH's shared superheroes universe), Legend (creator-owned projects, originally by Miller and Byrne),[137] and Maverick (creator-owned projects, follow-up to Legend)[138]
[citation needed] Imprints: America's Best, Ajax Publications, Ajax-Farrell,[163]Decker Publications, Red Top Comics, Steinway Comics and World Famous; successor to Farrell Publications
Registered club open to any comic-fan[165] with the goal to continue prematurly cancelled comic-series. First publishing in 2008. Imprint: Edition Solitaire
Imprint of Image Comics. Titles: Geiger, Hornsby & Halo, Hyde Street, It Happened on Hyde Street: Devour, Redcoat, The Rocketfellers, Rook: Exodus[171]
Short-lived imprint of Image Comics. Titles: Crimson Plague, Empire (#1-#2), Section Zero, ShockRockets, Superstar: As Seen on TV, Tellos (#8-#10) [175]
Former imprint of Image Comics. Titles: Big Game, Empress, Jupiter's Legacy, Kick-Ass, Nemesis, Prodigy, Superior, The Magic Order, Wanted, War Heroes[206]
Also known as Oxton & Woolfolk Comics Corp. Publisher of Mad Hatter No. 1 and No. 2 (1946). The Mad Hatter was an attorney who craved adventure. With his superb, athletic ability and his signal hat, he took on crime bosses. Grant Richmond was a little-respected junior partner at the law firm of Fuddy and Bustle who felt that the legal system made as much sense as the work of Lewis Carroll. So by night, he put on a costume and became the Mad Hatter. He can shine his top hat insignia against walls to strike fear into criminals, and he also speaks in rhyme.
Victims of the acute paper rationing of 1945-1949 which bankrupt many U.S. Publishing Companies during WWII, O.W. Comics, Inc., was a short-lived house consisting of two comic veterans, William "Bill" Woolfolk, who had worked for MLJ and Facett, and John Gerard "Jack" Oxton, Sr., a film editor with Paramount in NYC. They co-created the Mad Hatter #1 and #2, and co-founded their Comic Book Co., O.W. Comics, which stood for Oxton & Woolkfolk. Woolfolk, the Editor and Oxton, President, operated their publishing company, O.W. Comics, Inc., at 150 Nassau Street, New York City, New York in the mid-1940's.[213][214][215]
Sold to IPC Media and VNU in 1973; bought back by founder in 1979; became Promedia, Inc. in 1982; became Kauka Promedia in 2002; became Rolf Kauka Comics in 2008[227]
[citation needed] Owned by Enwil. Also published under Rural Home Publishing Co. and Rural Home Publications.[230] Titles: Cannonball Comics, Eagle Comics, Red Circle Comics
Imprint of Image Comics. Titles: 7174 A.D., 7174 Annual, All Against All (#4-#5), The Cabinet (#1), The Feeding, A Haunted Girl, Hitomi (#4-#5), Joe Hill's Rain (#1), Lore Remastered, Les Mort 13 Giant Syze Special, Saucer Country: The Finale, Self Help, Tales of Syzpense[246]
Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.
Daniel P. Abnett is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and has worked on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, and also 2000 AD. He has also contributed to DC Comics titles, and his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels and graphic novels for Games Workshop's Black Library now run to several dozen titles and have sold over two million copies. In 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books.
Michael Dalton "Mike" Allred is an American comic book artist and writer. He is most well known for his independent comics creation Madman and for co-creating and drawing the comic book series iZombie. His work often draws upon pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.
John Powers Severin was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat; for Marvel Comics, especially its war and Western comics; and for his 45-year stint with the satiric magazine Cracked. He was one of the founding cartoonists of Mad in 1952.
Richard "Rich" Johnston is a British comics creator, columnist, and founder of the comics news site Bleeding Cool.
Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He was best known for co-founding the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware. McDuffie was also known as a writer and producer for animated series such as Static Shock, Damage Control, Justice League Unlimited and the Ben 10 franchise.
Gail Simone is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Other notable works include Clean Room, Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, and Deadpool.
Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a Scottish cartoonist, best known for his work in 2000 AD, The Losers, and more recently Batman and Wolverine. He is also known for Wytches by Image Comics.
Al Ewing is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press, for 2000 AD, and for Marvel Comics.
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for co-creating The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, Invincible, Tech Jacket, Outcast, Oblivion Song, and Fire Power for Image Comics, in addition to writing Ultimate X-Men, Irredeemable Ant-Man and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt.
Ryan North is a Canadian writer and computer programmer.
Steven McNiven is a Canadian comic book artist. He first gained prominence on CrossGen's Meridian, before moving onto books such as Ultimate Secret, Marvel Knights 4, New Avengers, and Civil War, illustrating storylines such as "Old Man Logan."
Ken Steacy is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of Astro Boy and of the Comico comic series of Jonny Quest, as well as his graphic novel collaborations with Harlan Ellison and Dean Motter. Steacy was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 386 Comox Squadron.
Donald David Perlin was an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, The Defenders, and Ghost Rider. In the 1990s, he worked for Valiant Comics, both as artist and editor, where he co-created Bloodshot.
Martin Goodman was an American publisher of pulp magazines, digest sized magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, who founded the comics magazine company Timely Comics in 1939. Timely Comics would go on to become Marvel Comics, one of the United States' two largest comic book publishers along with rival DC Comics.
CBR, formerly Comic Book Resources, is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Screenrant, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
Jamie McKelvie is a British cartoonist and illustrator, known for his both work on books such as Phonogram, Young Avengers and The Wicked + The Divine, and his approach to comic character design.
Doug Braithwaite is a British comic book artist.
Declan Shalvey is an Irish comics artist and writer. He has worked for Marvel Comics, drawing titles like Moon Knight, Thunderbolts and Deadpool. For Image Comics, he has collaborated with writer Warren Ellis on science fiction series Injection, and written crime comics set in Ireland, including Savage Town, with artist Philip Barrett, and Bog Bodies, with artist Gavin Fullerton.
1 2 Munn, Bryan (2010-01-05). "Barry Blair, 1959-2010". Sequential: Canadian Comix News & Culture. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
1 2 "Black Eye Rolls with the Punches: Publisher Vrana Shifts Company Focus Following Turbulent Period", The Comics Journal no. 203 (Apr. 1998), p. 18-19.
↑ Katz, William A. and Katz, Linda Sternberg. Magazines for Young People: A "Children's Magazine Guide" Companion. Bowker, 1991. Second edition. 103. Retrieved January 6, 2011. "Now Comics, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1750, Chicago, IL 60604"
↑ Ominous Press at Comic Collector Live. Retrieved 18 June 2013
↑ Reynolds, Eric (November 1994). "Newswatch: Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown: The List Goes On". The Comics Journal. No.172. p.18.
1 2 "Newswatch:Dave Elliott Forms Blackball Comics". The Comics Journal (165): 14. January 1994. ISSN0194-7869.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
